Murder suspect's lawyer challenges search warrants

WATSEKA — A rural Ashkum man awaiting trial for the murder of a Gilman gas station clerk is contesting the validity of search warrants obtained for his property.

Attorney Ed Glazar Jr. of Kankakee filed a motion last month claiming that Iroquois County investigators made statements "with reckless disregard for the truth" to two judges when they were obtaining search warrants for Andrew M. Condon's farmstead.

The motion asked for an evidentiary hearing to be held "pursuant to Franks v. Delaware," a Supreme Court case from 1978.

On Wednesday, Iroquois County Circuit Court Judge Gordon Lustfeldt set a hearing for 1:30 p.m. May 30 to consider Glazar's motion.

Condon, 34, who remains at the Iroquois County Jail on a $1 million bond, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He is accused of fatally shooting Jonathan D. Rubin, 27, of Danforth, during the early-morning hours of Oct. 27, 2012, at the Shell gas station in Gilman where Mr. Rubin worked.

Iroquois County investigators obtained three search warrants for Condon's property based on video footage that allegedly showed Condon and Mr. Rubin "getting into an animated verbal confrontation" in the store, as well as a recorded statement from a man who allegedly witnessed the confrontation and overheard Condon threaten to harm Mr. Rubin, according to Glazar's motion.

Iroquois County State's Attorney Jim Devine said last November that Condon appeared "visibly upset" and "made a scene" when Mr. Rubin denied him the sale of a pack of cigarettes. Some two hours later, Condon allegedly returned with a handgun and shot Mr. Rubin death.

Glazar, meanwhile, claimed in his motion that "the video referred to in all three complaints for search warrants clearly does not show the defendant getting into any type of animated verbal confrontation and no reasonable person would conclude that statement to be the truth."

Glazar also claimed that "nowhere in the witness' audio-taped statement to police does he make the statement that he overheard the defendant threaten the victim with bodily harm."

Devine said the video footage from the store shows Condon "waving his arms, pointing his finger." Devine said it is "pretty clear he's agitated over the denial of the cigarette purchase."

But Devine said he would not be filing a motion contesting Glazar's motion, since it is not the state's burden.

Condon was arrested on a warrant for murder on Nov. 9, about a week after police twice searched his 3-acre farm at 561 E. 2700 West Road, about 2 1/2 miles west of Ashkum.